What happened to the world in 2007?
Ok. Too wide a topic. I'll narrow it down to the popular culture (a.k.a. Pop Culture).
There are so many things that happened. But I daresay, this year is about a young wizard, Harry Potter. July was a really "Harry" summer. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" - the seventh and the last chapter in J.K.Rowling's epic tale - became the fastest selling book in history. For me, I've been better for having met Harry, Hermione, Ron, Dumbledore and all the wizards, Muggles and magical creatures of Rowling's world. It's about the magical world, yet it can be identified by the real world. It's a timeless tale of friendship, faith and the triumph of good over evil.
The little song "Umbrella". Though it's just another creation of the pop culture, it sticks to everyone's mind and reaches every nook and corner of the world. "Ella ella ella", Rihanna made a big mark at the age of 19. YES, she is only NINETEEN.
"Hairspray". The musical movie that shakes you up, and awakes the confidence in yourself.
The B-Phone by Samsung. HAHA. Well, not a big thing to the world. But do you know why I mention it?
Cos I bought this phone. LOL.
The year of Angelina Jolie. This is when beauty has both style, elegance and most importantly, a big heart.
The year when "An Inconvenient Truth" by Al Gore alarmed the whole world. I've watched this documentary and my goodness, it's really impactful. The former U.S. vice president won two Oscars and a Nobel Peace Prize for this documentary and his efforts in trying to protect the environment.
And of course, "Enchanted" made this year so magical for me ^^
2007 is also a year of tragedies and scandals.
April 16. Virginia Tech massacre. I felt really sad to hear about the news.
August 1. Minnesota Bridge's collapse.
September. Protests against the military regime in Myanmar. My heart went out for the people in that nation. I uttered a prayer the Myanmese senior, though I don't personally know him.
December 27. Bhutto's assassination.
needless to say, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohann,... made headlines. How I wish the pop princess got her life back on track.
Why?
Her songs introduced me to music in English in 1998. Together with Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, N'Sync. Oh. The good old days.
How about me in 2007?
It's really painful to reflect on this year.
It was all a blur to me. The good times quizzed by quickly before I could even acknowledge it, the bad times kept dragging and looming over my mind.
I came to ACJC with a blank heart. 10 points for O-Level shocked me so badly. I spent the Orientation, the makeup lectures with sadness. I dragged my body to school but not my soul. Lingered on for days after days with no goals in mind. My fighting spirit was gone. The past suddenly came back to me and pulled me down. I reached out to the wrong people, trusting that they can pull me up from my emptiness and shunned away all the genuine friends who really cared for me. I sank deeper into depression.
Everyone was busy with works. "I wanna get As". Of course, everyone should work hard and persevere, putting the best foot forward. I could not do that and I stood aside, observing from afar and felt even sadder as I had no companion to cling on to. Everyone was going with the flow, moving on. While I was stuck, clutching at straws, trying to keep my mind sane.
When it was all too much, I became stupid. I did things. And I'm really glad now that I'm still alive.
Day by day, school became unbearable. I kept falling sick. I skipped school. Workload in ACJC was not designed for depressed and sick students, hence it kept snowballing until it was bigger than what I could handle. I gave up.
My depression had it ups and downs. During the ups, I did whatever I could to get my life back on track, so that it won't fall too far behind the fast-paced and indifferent life in ACJC. But the down periods just erased all my efforts away. Do you know how happy I am when I could finish a math tutorial on my own? Even though it took me three hours just to finish what my friends could do during lunch break, it was a great achievement for me.
Mr Kayden Lim is a miracle worker. He helped me to get back my basics in maths. He even called me up during the holiday to see whether I needed his help. Mdm Tham too, called me to remind me to study and such. Sadly, at that time, I thought teachers were trying to kill me.
Hence, again, I shunned away all the genuine efforts to help me.
Things at home weren't good either. Mom's health worsened, she quitted her job. Dad's project went sour and a huge sum had to be put aside to compensate for that. Anyway, it was too much for me to handle. Enough was enough. I could not care about that.
Well, I still survived because of my friends. I got to know my classmates, started from Sylvia, Kenneth and Chin Chuen. The class SC4, though not as happening as other classes, not many presidents or ex-co members and such, it is a lovely class. The crap talks, truth or dare sessions, Mark's witty jokes, NICOLE,... made the class so much bearable =] ah, Nicholas, Helsa, Charlotte, Alessa, and the gang of Gao Ya, Steph and Rachel. Really fun to talk to them, either in person or MSN =]
CHOIR =]
My first friend was not a tenor, strangely, it was Kerryn. She kept me company before my turn to audition. The audition process was also funny. Jerome was there, my senior from ACSI choir. Well, I was surprised that I was accepted after my OHGOSH audition. I am still really thankful for that. Marcus called me up and told me to collect the scores the next day.
That was how my journey started. My next friends were Joshua, Marcus and Jowell. Josh and me decided to just do it for the first public performance, even though we only had one week to prepare. And I did not know how and why, but Marcus and Heath started to get to know me and supported me. They are really nice to care for such a wretch like me. Then it was Brendan and subsequently, the rest of tenors. By genuine care, by chance, by hearing stories about me, one by one they got to know me and that's how my journey in this school was so much more bearable =]
Wow, cool right? I think that's really cool.
At first, I did not put my heart and soul into choir. I went there, I sang and that was it. No joy, no feeling, nothing. I still can't explain how and why, but I started to feel the music, I started to sense the meaning of the songs and the efforts that everyone put in. I really sang. I did. It was joyful.
I did not totally comprehend choir though. Why certain things were run that way? Why it was too much? Sometime I felt like quitting. But I did not. Thankfully. I was really sad when Josh left though. Though I did not talk to him much and he was not a close friend of mine, he was still a friend, someone that crossed my part, went through the same journey, had the same thoughts and feelings towards choir. That's why it was sad. Suddenly, there was one person missing. The section suddenly lost one person. Suddenly I did not have any companion to go back to the hostel with after sectionals every monday. It was void.
Anyway, that prepared me to face changes. Trained me to be less emotional and I became somewhat callous since.
SYF. Needless to say, I don't want to comment about it. But again, I believe in experience, not a dumb trophy. We know what we deserve ^^ We know that we put in our best efforts. I felt the music. I still feel touched everytime I listened to the recording of our SYF. I feel proud.
Again, I don't remember how, but I got to know my j1 tenors better day by day. The late night chats, crazy talks, honest writings, blogs, photos,... everything is so precious.
AEWF, beautiful music. and THEN, I GOT TO BE PART OF "The mermaid's song" during the SYF Presentation. Do you know that's one of the reasons why I wanted to join ACJC choir? I even put that down on the audition form. HAHAHA.
Well, there were a lot of bad things too. But I decide not to remember them.
Anyway, I've come to love the choir after Promos. There is more time to get to know my batch mates. More chances. It all ended with a bang with the caroling sessions.
Sadly, I had to leave before SLO.
When something good actually happens, it ends.
Anyway, I'm better now after this year. 2007 is the worst year but I grew up a lot, I think. (Sadl, I did not grow up in terms of height, lol) It left me stranded in the end but as Heath said, I get a chance to start my life over in US. Ok, I'll look ahead ^^.
I will miss my friends in Singapore, always. Singaporeans, Vietnamese, Malaysians, Indonesians, Thai, Hongkie, Filipino suddenly has become parts of my life now. COOL =]
Ok, I can't think of anything else to write. I'll end this post by these few words:
cookies, angels, omelette, brenheathmarcus, nicole, jowelljiajunjiingjiunnkennethdarryl, sylviegaoyastepthrachelhelsacharlotte.
from now on, i'll LOOK AHEAD to a BRIGHT 2008 =] =] =] =] =]
ok. that's a lot of smileys =]
HAPPY NEW YEAR, everyone =]
hope 2008 will be fantastic for you!
with love =]
as always,
Don
from left: joey, ken, darren, dan, and jack
